State Stories

2016 Girls Bowling

February 18, 2016

The 2016 IHSA Girls Bowling State Finals take center stage at The Cherry Bowl in Rockford on Friday and Saturday, February 19-20.

Lockport rose to the top of the standings at the 2015 IHSA Girls Bowling State Finals, winning the fourth state championship in school history and first since 2009. The Porters have to replace the leading bowler from that team (Kierstin Vandenburg), but senior Nikki Mendez has state final experience and sophomore Bailey Delrose’s individual medalist honors (1,374 Sectional score) helped Lockport post the top Sectional score in the state last week (6,300).

Waubonsie Valley has brought home trophies from the state tourney in four consecutive seasons, including state titles in 2012 and 2013, followed by a third-place finish last season. Senior Violet Kirk tied for 12th in the state in 2015 (2,597) and helped the Warriors to the state’s second-best Sectional pinfall (6,248) this year by rolling a 1,400, the top individual Sectional score in the state.

With the exception of 2003 and 2010, Collinsville has placed in the Top 10 in the state every season since 2001. The Cahoks placed second a year ago behind then sophomore Katelynn Wirtel, who returns and tries to lead the program to its fourth overall trophy, all of which have come since 2008.

Fresh off last year’s fourth-place finish, West Aurora enters the state tournament with the momentum of the third-best Sectional pinfall (6,180) in the state, and a Top 10 individual returner in senior Jamie McCreedy (9th, 2,603).

Oswego East, fifth in 2015, and Oswego both had strong showings in the Sectionals this year and return Top 11 state finishers from last season in seniors Abby Ragsdale (5th, 2,622) and Brittany Breedlove (11th, 2,598), respectively.

Led by individual Sectional medalist Montana Hughes (1,363) Freeport captured a team Sectional crown (5,778) last week at Dixon, while Schaumburg (5,885), Salem (5,835), and Belvidere North (5,794) rounded out the 2016 Sectional team champs.

The battle for the individual state champion honor should be hotly contested, as the field features a great deal of returning talent, highlighted by 17 of the Top 25 finishers from a year ago returning to The Cherry Bowl this weekend.

With the defending state champ (Lemont’s Kyra Udzlela) and runner-up (Vandenburg) both having graduated, the spotlight shifts to Stevenson senior Kaitlyn Rudy, whose 2,639 pinfall in 2015 was good for third-place. Lake Park’s Kaitlyn Keith (6th, 2,616) joins Rudy as an individual qualifier who was a Top 10 finisher last year, while East Moline junior Leah Samuelson and O’Fallon senior Madison Kasza eye a move into the Top 10 in 2016, after tying for 12th in the state last year with identical scores of 2,596.

Meanwhile, a pair of Sectional champs also qualified as individuals and will try to make their presence felt on the leaderboard in Maine South’s Victoria Odarczenko (1,365) and Dupo’s Courtney Argus (1,331). The final individual Sectional winner fo 2016 was Skylar Russo-Perry (1,325), who guided the Harlem team to the state tourney.